


That Teenage Feeling

by alullabytoleaveby



Series: Emma 'verse [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Family, First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Schmoop, daddy!dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-16 20:14:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1360294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alullabytoleaveby/pseuds/alullabytoleaveby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma really doesn’t get why she has to meet her dad’s new boyfriend. It’s not like she has to date him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Teenage Feeling

**Author's Note:**

> For Musey, as always.

Emma really doesn’t get why she has to meet her dad’s new boyfriend. It’s not like _she_ has to date him.

And honestly? It’s sorta the last thing she wants to do on their Tuesday night visit. She only gets to see her dad every other weekend and on Tuesday nights and those rare hours they get to spend together are _theirs_. They’re hours that are supposed to be spent making pancakes on Sunday morning and watching bad TV instead of doing her homework like a good student and reading The Hobbit together in her room late at night. They are not supposed to be spent sitting in a stupid diner waiting for her dad’s latest paramour to arrive (he’s _late_ , which only adds to the the mounting dislike she has for this man) and try to bribe her into liking him.

Usually, Emma likes going to diners with Dean. It’s almost tradition, at this point. They get burgers and Dean lets her order a chocolate milkshake and then they split a big piece of pie for dessert and they talk about the latest Dr. Sexy episode (Dean totally uses her as an excuse to watch it) or what book she’s reading for school (grade eight language arts blows and Emma had to fight with her teacher to let her read Persepolis because graphic novels are cool and all the other stories about boring old men in their memoir unit sucked). Dean always builds a small fortress out of the bowl of coffee creamers and sugar and when Emma was little, she thought it was the greatest thing. Now it makes her flush with a good sort of embarrassment and roll her eyes. And when it’s time to leave, Dean always steals too many mints from the dish at the register and Emma makes a disgusted face because it’s so _unsanitary_ and she knows that that’s half the reason Dean does it to begin with.

It’s not a perfect or grand or significant, but it’s theirs and Emma’s loath to share it. 

Tonight, Dean’s not doing any of that. He’s sitting across from her, his phone on the table (violating their no phone during dinner rule, she would add), tight lipped, jostling his leg up and down. He keeps glancing at it every couple of seconds, like if he looks at his cell phone long enough, Cas will just magically appear on time. _Cas_ , apparently, had sent Dean a text as they arrived that he was running behind. But it’s been fifteen minutes already and Emma is _bored_. Dean made her leave her book in the car—he’d said it was rude, of all things, like suddenly, he expects her to believe he gives a crap about manners. So Emma fiddles with the salt and pepper shakers on the table while they wait, screwing and unscrewing the caps, getting little bits of spice all over their table, but it does little to divert her.

Emma’s a little sick of the tense silence, especially over a guy that she doubts is going to be around for much longer anyways.

She heard about Cas for the first time about six months ago. Dean’d been seeing him for a little over a month at that point and wanted Emma to know. She shrugged it off, as usual, and then changed the subject so they could talk about Star Trek. But then his name started slipping into conversations—Cas said this and Cas thought that and can you believe that Cas has never seen Star Wars, Em? It’s a tragedy! 

And all that’s _normal_ , really, when her dad starts a relationship. And then it progresses to this phase, where Emma sits in a restaurant and makes polite small talk with another adult for an hour and then never sees them again. After the meet the daughter phase, they last for another month, maybe two, before something throws a wrench in the works (Emma’s never really asked for details and really doesn’t want to know them) and Dean’s single once again. It happened with Cassie and with Aaron and with Lisa, Dean’s most recent ex and perhaps the one significant other that Emma actually really liked. She had a son named Ben, had taken her shopping for back to school clothes, and didn’t talk down to Emma like she was some stupid kid.

But now there is Cas. Cas who is late and making her dad nervous and Emma just wants him to get here, so that they can eat. She is _hungry_ , damn it. 

There’s a flurry of motion at the doorway and man in a trench coat, a backwards tie, and windswept hair stumbles in, glances in their direction, and then makes a beeline for them. So _this_ is Cas, Emma thinks, watching him with an evaluating stare as he wanders over to their table. With the way her father has spoken about him (there might not be literal hearts in his eyes, but it’s a close thing), Emma is expecting someone a little more…well, special, she supposes.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he pants, out of breath, as he shrugs off his jacket and slides into the booth next to her father. “Samandriel had a lot of concerns to go over and my office hours ran late.” Dean smiles a little smile of relief and shrugs.

“It’s fine Cas, things happen,” Dean says and Cas, now settled in, rests his gaze on Emma.

“You must be Emma?”

“Last time I checked,” she responds flippantly, with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Em,” Dean chastises, gives her a pleading, ‘could you please not?’ look.

“It’s fine, Dean. It was a stupid question,” Cas placates and Emma, despite herself, likes him just a little bit—the smallest, tiniest bit, really—for the defense. 

“I’m Castiel. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he introduces himself and presents his hand for a shake. Emma shakes it grudgingly. 

“Same, I guess,” she responds, sounding all of the surly thirteen year old she is. The waitress, mercifully, comes over to take their order, giving them a moment where they don’t have to figure out what to talk about. They all order burgers and Emma orders a water instead of a milkshake. Dean frowns a bit when she asks for it, concerned, but he doesn’t question her. Emma’s glad because she’s not sure how she’d explain to her dad that milkshakes are for them. They aren’t for her and Dean _and_ Cas. 

After the waitress leaves, they sit in silence for a little bit until Dean pipes up with a “How was school today, Emma?”

“Fine I guess. Mr. Crowley was being a jerk in math again today when I wasn’t understanding how to divide polynomials.” Dean huffs—this isn’t the first time that Emma’s complained about her math teacher. She used to love math, but this year’s algebra class has never made her feel more stupid. She just doesn’t _get it_. And it’s not like she can ask for help, really. Neither of her parents are math whizzes, and Uncle Sam, while super smart, has a hard time dumbing it down enough to the point where Emma can understand it. Dean’s called the school a couple of times about the way that Mr. Crowley treats her, but there’s really nothing that can be done without uprooting Emma from the rest of her education.

“Polynomials can be difficult,” Cas says, flipping over the placemat in front of him, pulling a pen out of his pocket, and writing out an equation. “But if you break them apart, it becomes a lot simpler.” He demonstrates, writes the variables out the long way, begins to cross them off until all that remains is the answer. Emma just stares at him in disbelief because _seriously_?

“Dude,” Emma breathes out. Cas frowns.

“Did you not understand? Should I explain it a different way?” Emma vigorously shakes her head.

“No, no. It’s fine. Just…can you come teach my math class?” This is the first time she’s understood one of their concepts on the first explanation and god, why couldn’t Mr. Crowley explain it like Cas? Cas chuckles lightly.

“That’s high praise. I always wonder if I’m explaining a topic as well as I could to my students.” 

“Cas is a math professor at the local community college,” Dean explains when Emma quirks a look at him.

“Oh.”

The rest of their meal passes quickly, once their food arrives. Cas eats his burger with gusto and Dean makes an inappropriate comment about the noises Cas makes and Emma’s face scrunches up as she whines “ _gross!_ ”. Emma retaliates with the story of how she and Krissy got out of running the mile in gym class because of period pains (they spend so much time together their cycles are _synced_ , you know). When they’re all done, Dean excuses himself to the bathroom leaving Emma and Cas alone. There’s an awkward pause between them before Cas clears his throat.

“Emma,” he starts but she cuts him off.

“I don’t need a new daddy. Or mommy. Or whatever.”

“I know,” Cas says. “You already have both. And they love you very much.”

“Okay then.”

“Your father is…very important to me,” Cas says carefully. “And you are very important to him.” Emma shifts uncomfortably.

“That doesn’t mean I have to be important to you.”

“I’d like you to be.” Emma stares at him, her gaze hard, trying to figure out what that means. “I’m not trying to be your new parent or your best friend,” Cas explains, “but I would like to be part of your life. If you’d like that.”

She’s not sure what possess her to say “I guess,” especially when she’d been so hell bent on disliking Cas before dinner started. But he’s not so bad, she supposes. Cas smiles, kind and happy and bright.

“Good. That’s…good.” Dean shows back up again, then, and reaches across Cas to where his coat is bundled up in the corner.

“We good to go, Emster?” Emma nods and slides out of the booth. There’s the awkward shuffle as they put on their coats, pay, and head out the door together. They walk to the Impala and Dean opens her door, lets her get inside. “Hey Em, I’m just gonna talk to Cas for a sec, okay?” 

“That’s fine, Dad,” she replies, reaches out to close the door to the car. 

Cas isn’t parked far away; he and Dean meander over to his car. Emma can’t hear them, but she does watch them. She sees the way Dean bows his head, shuffles his feet, and says something that makes Cas grip his shoulder with one hand and force Dean to look at him with the other. Cas says something, his face serious, then he kisses Dean softly, sweetly. Dean heads back to the Impala shortly after that, a grin on his face and his cheeks flushed.

She can’t remember the last time her dad looked this happy.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this to tumblr a few weeks back. Figured I should probably put it up here too. Thanks for reading :).


End file.
